Posted
by
Soulskillon Tuesday August 18, 2009 @02:45PM
from the worst-kept-secret dept.

Sony's press conference today at the Gamescom convention was full of announcements. They officially revealed the PS3 Slim, which will be 36% lighter and 33% smaller than the normal PS3. It will come with a 120 GB hard drive and list for $299 when it hits retail stores in early September. Normal PS3s will drop to that price as well starting tomorrow. (Unfortunately for Sony, their unveiling was spoiled a bit by several retailers jumping the gun on new advertisements, not to mention the rumors that had been swirling for weeks ahead of time.) Sony also announced a PS3 firmware update as well as new features and customization options for Home. In addition to that, the PS3 and PSP will be getting a digital reader service. At launch it will bring access to Marvel comic books, and will expand from there. They didn't talk much about their upcoming motion control scheme, but promised more details next month at the Tokyo Game Show.

Considering that PS2s are still selling (strangely) well and getting new game releases, it's unlikely Sony will restore BC (even if only software emulation) to the PS3 platform. We'll probably see it return around the time they EOL the PS2 platform completely (once the PS3's successor is out.)

Although I'm not sure that holds water, at least if they're still selling the PSOne, which I think they are...

We'll probably see it return around the time they EOL the PS2 platform completely

I doubt it. I'd love to be able to play my PS2 games on the PS3, but I know it'll never happen. Not when they can "sell" the same games through the PS Store and get another $10-$20 out of people who have already bought the games.

Er...you can't buy PS2 games for non-compatible PS3s through the PS Store because the lack of PS2 compatibility means you can't play them. You can buy PSX games through the PS Store, but you can also play PSX games right from the disc (if you still have your old copy) on *any* PS3. The real gyp is that you can't play old PSX games on your PSP, because the PSP has no way to read the discs. For that, you really do have to buy them again from the PS Store.

There is a way to run a PS1 disc in your PS3 and stream it to your PSP over LAN/Internet...Location free player is the util, I believe. It does have (especially over the internet) some major latency issues though.

Not enough to justify getting games up to 18 months after their release date, or paying $120 for a new game when the US$ price is about $60 and the exchange rate is up at roughly 80c. At least TV and movie producers have wised up. There was an article here a few years back saying how much of global piracy happened just in Australia, just because we got TV series and movies so late.

No, the original PS3 actually had all the hardware of a PS2 built into it to provide compatibility; no software emulation. Then they removed most of the hardware and did software emulation, and then the current models removed the rest of the hardware and provide no compatibility at all. Europe was the most out of luck here; no hardware-compatible PS3 was ever released in PAL format, although they did get a software emulation model.

It only seems strange that the PS2 is still selling so well, until you realize that the PS3 really isn't "standard def. TV friendly".... I know quite a few people who play games on their PS2, and bought replacements when their old unit broke/wore out, but have no real interest in a PS3, simply because they're still using a large-ish tube type standard-def TV as their main television set. (If you have cable or satellite, you really have no need to replace it, after all.)

My experience with using a PS3 in standard def resolution was eye-strain inducing, trying to read many of the text fonts the games would display.

There's a pretty big ratio of PS3 owners who coupled the purchase with a new plasma or LCD TV.... partially because they wanted a Blu-Ray player for that fancy new set, but realistically, it's practically a requirement to enjoy many of the game titles too.

360 is the same way. It looks beautiful on a decent size HDTV, but developer seem to still not realized that not everyone has a 720p or better TV. On my old 26" tube most text outside of the main menus was completely unreadable for most 360 games.

My experience with using a PS3 in standard def resolution was eye-strain inducing, trying to read many of the text fonts the games would display.

This was precisely my experience before I bought a HD capable monitor. Next gen games are quite simply unplayable on anything less than 720p.

However, the big problem here is that Last gen games are unplayable at anything above 576p! OK slight exaggeration, but old games do look awful on a HD TV. Aliasing everywhere. And therein lies the biggest reason that Sony and Microsoft need to keep up backwards compatibility. I can tell you that PS2 games played on a PS3 instead of a PS2 look a hell of a lot better. It's like night and day. Add to this the convienicen factor, and I'm pretty irritated with Sony for dropping this feature and refusing to reimplement it. There are still loads of fantastic PS2 titles I haven't played, and more are still coming out!

The problem exists with XBox 360 as well, Dead Rising was a PITA to read text on.

However this is indeed an issue. I couldn't read most test for GTA4, my minimap in Dynasty Warriors 6 was fuzzy and practically useless. I had to pause to look at the largest battlefield map to get an idea of what was going on. A lot of things became a lot cleared when I went to a HDTV.

"PS3 really isn't "standard def. TV friendly".... My experience with using a PS3 in standard def resolution was eye-strain inducing, trying to read many of the text fonts the games would display."

I use a ps3 on a 5 yr old reasonably-sized SDTV and you couldn't be more correct. It is a HUGE pain to try to play any games with small print. PixelJunk Monsters [gamespot.com] is almost not playable because your character is too small to see, and you can forget trying to read any subtitles or instructions. I keep looking f

More often than not, very large tube sets are "good enough" for most people that have them. However, replacing them is such a huge PITA because of how large and heavy they are. So until it decides to die one day, there really isn't much of an incentive replace it with a flat panel.

Considering that PS2s are still selling (strangely) well and getting new game releases, it's unlikely Sony will restore BC (even if only software emulation) to the PS3 platform.

That still doesn't make business sense. Wouldn't they want people to migrate to the PS3? A PS3 sale is worth a lot more to Sony than a PS2 sale - what with the extra profits from the Playstation Store, higher-priced games, and royalties from Blu-Ray movie sales. Besides, if that was the logic, why did the original PS3 have PS2 compatibility at launch?

Obviously you're joking, but having two separate consoles would be easier if they (1) took one power plug(*), (2) took one input on the TV/receiver.

Personally, the lack of backward compatibility is the major reason I haven't even thought of buying a PS3.. though admittedly, I don't get *tons* of games for my PS2, and even then, they're basically always $20 games. (Though I do tend to buy as many as I can new, and not on ebay.) Even software backward compatibility, with a list of games they KNOW have majo

Backward compatibility costs Sony significant development resources for a feature that only impacts a small number of people. The real diehards all bought the early PS3 models that had support for PS2 games. While vocal, the people who are still left waiting backward compatibility but not willing to pay for it in the past are a tiny number, and I can't imagine any scenario where Sony starts caring about you. Like those of us who wanted a PS3 when they played SACDs, a feature cut in the same period as bac

First off, there is still plenty of coding involved to support PS2 titles even when one has the Emotion Engine chip present only on earlier PS3s. The chip doesn't just work on its own without associated driver software that needs to be maintained, and there's specific features like the PS2 upscaling [joystiq.com] involved too.

And product development resources aren't just coding. The work that was going into the PS2 Support List [playstation.com] wasn't trivial either, and in a real product every feature you advertise needs its own dedic

PS2 compatibility means nothing to me, but then I don't have a huge library of PS2 games, and games from that era now look so terribly dated by today's standards that they're hardly worth buying even at used prices.

I do, however, really dig the idea that the XBox 360 can be used to play Netflix instant play movies on the TV (although it requires an XBox Live account). If PS3 had that as well, I'd buy the PS3 over the 360 in a heartbeat now that they're basically price compatible. As it is, though, I'm

For me it was the price, I could care less about the backwards compatibility, it was convenient for sure. I still have a perfectly good PS2 that I still use. The initial buy in price was to steep for the majority of their target audience, especially when you could get the same title on the 360. Sure you can argue the PS3 has better graphics, but truthfully graphics aren't everything.

The BC was sketchy at best and several games suffered performance issues or didnt run at all. Because the PS2 proccessor was actually incorporated into the PCB it caused some performace issues for PS3 games as well. software emulation would be nice but personally i think the PS3 would need more RAM to effectively due this without any noticeable performance issues. i actually waited until the BC was removed to buy mine for this reason. you can pick up a used PS2 from Game Stop for $60.

To be honest, I don't know the time frame of when or what versions had PS2/PS1 compatability. I've heard a lot of things like the 40GB versions didn't have it while the 60 and 80GB versions did. All I know is that I bought an 80GB PS3 in a Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle and I haven't run into any problems playing PS2 or PS1 games on the PS3, aside from the graphics on PS1 games being terrible. I actually think FFXII looks better from the PS3 compared to the PS2....

They'll make it stop working on your existing device by simply removing the option to install when the update comes down the pipe. I doubt there's any real technical reason for dropping it, other than some beancounter deciding that the loss of respect from technical users was less costly than the upkeep for the hypervisor (assuming they remove it.)

Assuming they don't, you'll be able to keep what you have on there, but not reinstall or do a new install. Which is a huge amount of ass considering how much work was done by the open source community to port things to the PS3 including kernel patches and various GCC ports and additions for the SPUs. All of that is now wasted, even on older consoles unless you never, ever let them contact PSN.

No doubt they *can* make it stop working on my existing PS3 if I choose to install their update. But it doesn't say anywhere that they are planning to remove it. I highly doubt they are, since the cost of maintenance on leaving it there is zero.

This morning as I started to see news feeds coming in that the price was being dropped to $300, a reasonable price for somethign that primarily would be used a blu-ray player. I was willing to purchase since there were some other areas I could explore in the system, including installing outside operating systems. The fact that this was something I could do with the system and now the fact that Sony can retroactively remove it, is not worth my time or my money.

The 'fat' PS3's price is being cut to $299 and it retains the "OtherOS" feature. The press releases says "users will not be able to install other Operating Systems to the new PS3 system" [emphasis added]. (It's also not clear yet how hard it'll be to upgrade the HD in the 'slim' model, if it's possible at all.)

I've got Linux on mine, but I haven't had a chance to use it much. The annoying thing is that there's no real equivalent to a bootloader. If you set it to boot Linux, it will always boot to Linux un

The install other OS option was utterly useless, only one cell was supported and you had no access to any of the advanced hardware. No reason for Sony to continue to support a feature that was used by only a very tiny fraction of PS3 owners.

People who pick this above all others as a reason not to buy a PS3 are just being petulant.

I would assume that the loss of Linux support is likely due to not bothering to accommodate for the large changes in hardware under the hood. If their research shows that not enough people are using a feature make it worth developing and supporting, why should they waste resources on that feature? Of course, by that logic, then Home should have dies a long time ago too...

At any rate, it shouldn't take too long for unofficial workarounds to show up.

It's a shame though, as I only started playing around with cell programming on an older spare PS/3. The power core + multiple SPU approach is interesting. The only hardware alternative for cell is the super expensive QS22 blades from IBM which cuts out most educational and hobby use. You would think that IBM and Sony would want to maintain interest and training on this architecture to help justify further development. A cheap $299 box is a good way to do this. Maybe they will add the Other OS feature back i

The internal design architecture of the new PS3 system, from the main semiconductors and power supply unit to the cooling mechanism, has been completely redesigned, achieving a much slimmer and lighter body. Compared to the very first PS3 model with 60GB HDD, the internal volume as well as its thickness and weight are trimmed down to approximately two-thirds. Furthermore, power consumption is also cut to two-thirds, helping to reduce fan noise.

So: Still has internal PSU (my major worry), but isn't as great a size reducation as say the shrink from the PS2 to the PS2 Slim. Sounds like more chips are 45nm than before. Obviously there was a circuit board redesign. One major fail is not having a USB port on the back for PlayTV.

Even quieter fan noise will be a nice feature for movie watchers, not that it is a major issue now.

And the price is very competitive with the 360. Price drop here coming soon I presume! Otherwise there's even less reason to get

That's a standard "figure 8" connector typically associated with AC transmission. You see them on everything, but the place a Slashdot reader is most likely to have seen them is on the cord that goes between the AC wall outlet and a laptop's power supply. Dell uses them a lot.

I see nothing that would indicate an external power supply, and in fact the presence of that connector would imply the opposite.

Not really surprising... they used the same pattern with the PS2. Announce during the pre-release hype that there will be Linux, and you get a bunch of pundits and gullible geeks talking about how it's going to be taking over from the Real Computer. The actual possibilities with the Linux kit end up limited and forgotten, little more than a technical curiosity.

When the hardware gets updated later on, the Linux kit doesn't as it was only part of the pre-release marketing process. Expect the same thing wit

- The PS3 slim will be hacked. Now that there is no Other OS support, there is the same incentive as there has been for running homebrew on every other console.- Said hacks will be used for warez, probably by people other than those who developed the hacks.

Linux hackers tend to be much more successful at system reverse engineering and exploitation than the kids who want warez. This is why Other OS is a Good Thing for Sony: it removes the incentive to bypass their security for a lot of people. By removing this option, they're setting themselves to have their security broken. And we all know how long it takes for "other" people to use these hacks for less than legal purposes (I learned this the hard way).

I firmly believe Other OS is one of the main reasons why there is no PS3 software piracy so far. Check out this table [marcansoft.com] from our 25C3 presentation.

The kind of people who want to tinker with their hardware out of passion would still push the envelope even if the Slim was Linux-friendly. People hack stuff that's completely open as well.

Ah, but there's a difference. With Other OS, people still want to hack out the GPU access restrictions (as has been done once or twice). With the facility removed entirely, people will attack the Native OS. Piracy shows up when you start messing with a console's native facilities, not a linux-specific mode that games can'

Yeah, that's a big deal to me, especially as I only paid £229.99 for my Xbox 360 back in August 2006. I want a PS3 because I'm dying to play Killzone more than anything, but I just can't justify paying more for a console of the same generation now, than I did 3 years ago. This late in the generation consoles needs to be sub-£200 IMO.

To be fair on Sony, that's what the price point is in North America - £180, which is the same as the Wii at £179.99 whilst the 360 for the premium model

There have been one or two games I'd like to play that are on the PS3 only, but they are some coming that I'd really like to play (God of War 3, possibly FF XIII, I know there are others). I didn't want to spend $400 for a game or two. Having the price down to $300 helps.

Of course I'm not going to jump at it yet. I'll wait for the inevitable God of War III bundle.

So, new changes coming to Home. More customization options. More places. Neat, I guess.

Except for the part where they apparently think people are willing to pay $0.29 for a pair of shoes that no one is going to see. Likewise the $5 to buy a new "personal apartment" that basically no one except yourself is ever going to see. (Sure, you can invite friends over to your virtual apartment but, really, how much is it worth to have your virtual self live in the Ghostbusters station?)

Not to mention the charges on logo-ed shirts. I can't remember prices, but I think those were in the $0.50-$1 range. So I'm expected to pay money to be a walking virtual advertisement. Sure...

If the Home avatars had any use outside of Home (like the Miis and the Xbox Live Avatars) I could almost see the more pathetic fanboys paying money to dress them up in a T-shirt with a Ghostbuster logo on it. But $0.50 for a virtual shirt that can only be seen in a single virtual space in which there is essentially nothing to do? Please!

Last time I checked (which was a month ago, so not terribly long ago) PlayStation Home was still just like this Penny Arcade cartoon [penny-arcade.com]. The only difference I found from the beta last year is that the stores now actually sell something rather than being completely empty.

It's not a problem, so much, as it is a question of whether the new Home content is actually going to be worth anything or if it's all going to be worthless options locked behind a pay wall.

The article says that Home will be getting "new character customization options" - are we expected to pay for these? Since they're currently charging money for the current "character customization options" in the forms of virtual clothing, it seems quite likely that these new options may simply be more paid clothing.

Well, if Sony wanted to entice people to actually participate in Home they'd make that sort of thing free.

And secondly, it's the principle of the thing. Companies only take advantage because people allow them to do so. If consumers formed a united front and took at stand against this sort of nonsense a lot more DLC would be free. It's one think when they're offering a substantial add-on to a game and another thing altogether when it's some costume piece.

Whenever they update their Divx support the MKV support should be included (since the new Divx uses MKV files).

As for the rest, agreed. The web browser should just use some custom build of Firefox, and the PS2 backwards compatibility would help bring in the people who want to keep playing their existing PS2 games.

I want to be able to do more than read Comic Books with a reader program. I want to be able to read PDF, ODF, RTF, HTML, CHM, and other formats that eBooks come in.

If I buy a PSP or Slim PS3, I want an educational value for it as well as a gaming one. I want more than a Language Tutor program or BrainAge, I want to be able to read eBooks as well.

I am sticking to a PS2 because the PS3 price is too high and they took away backwards compatibility with PS2 games on most PS3 models. I might as well buy a Wii because it runs GameCube games, or an XBox 360 with a hard drive that can run XBox games. Sony really needs to learn a lesson here to run legacy software like the others, or risk losing these console wars.

I want to be able to do more than read Comic Books with a reader program. I want to be able to read PDF, ODF, RTF, HTML, CHM, and other formats that eBooks come in.

If I buy a PSP or Slim PS3, I want an educational value for it as well as a gaming one. I want more than a Language Tutor program or BrainAge, I want to be able to read eBooks as well.

I am sticking to a PS2...

last i checked the PS2 has none of those features. if you're serious about using a gaming console for education i actually think the PS3 is about as close as you'll get. in addition to the obvious of being able to teach somebody the basics of running linux from the command line, since its the only console with a blu ray you can get the blue planet series on BD its an incredible documentary that is full of education.

Sure, the PS3 Slim is nice. But what I find interesting is the PSP Digital Reader Service. The (very brief) article mentions that Sony is teasing about extending it beyond comics by the end of the year. Not coincidentally, that's also when they plan to have their eBookstore migrated over to the ePub format. [slashdot.org] Considering the iPhone/iPod Touch are among the most used digital book-reading devices, and the PSP has a screen resolution that's similar, this could be a very wise move. Assuming this actually happens, you'll also have the ability to buy new releases directly from the PSP using WiFi (something that many people are wishing for in a new Sony eBook reader). Interesting times ahead...

Rather than a good deal, I'd say it's finally priced the way it should be. I will also be getting one at this price... I have been a 360 zealot for a long time, but will get one of these for exclusives and PSN titles if I want them.

Too bad Greenpeace didn't consider those when they named Nintendo such a non-green company.

For what it's worth, many RROD's 360's can be repaired by Microsoft or even through hardhack methods. I don't know Greenpeace's method of calculation, but I suppose even if they can fix them, shipping all these broken 360's back and forth doesn't help.

That statistic of over 50% is so high that I find it hard to believe. Half of all units fail? What is even more shocking is that so many people remain loyal to the Xbox. I'm guessing it's that people feel they don't have a choice given they've already invested in the system owning several games, controllers and whatnot.

Actually, I was one of the 10.3% of PS3 owners with a failed unit. Having not touched the console for a few days I turn it on, the fan starts up, the LED flashes yellow, the console beeps a f

...you get a decent midrange gaming PC for $500 these days, with dual core, 4 GB RAM and one of the better 128 bit GPUs. The PS3 still has more CPU power, but I think the PC wins in all other things.

While this is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison, it shows the PS3 is not THAT much cheaper than a PC with decent gaming performance. Which is also useful for your home office. So I tend to agree about "too little too late for Sony".

It would be nice if they would have included an infrared port for universal remotes. The PS3 is reportedly the best Blu-Ray player, but it is hard to integrate into many people's home theaters because of the RF remote.

Yeah, unfortunately they didn't. My PS3 is almost exclusively used for Blu-Ray movies (most games I purchase for my Xbox360 - if Sony would allow developers to use the machine to the fullest rather than parcel out power over the years...)